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Salem has long had a self-image problem, but it's time to overcome the last vestiges of that civic inferiority complex.

Certainly, Salem is not Portland, Eugene, McMinnville or wherever. Instead, it is a delightful community in its own right.

Anyone who doubts that assertion should have been at Tuesday evening's community reception for Gov. Kate Brown and First Gentleman Dan Little, who moved to Salem and into Mahonia Hall this year. Brown and her husband talked — genuinely — about their love for Salem.

The next day, also at the Salem Convention Center, Mayor Anna Peterson gave her fifth annual State of the City address. It was among her best, highlighting Salem's achievements during the past year while not ignoring the challenges.

Among those challenges is Salem's inability to address persistent homelessness, a situation that remains so severe in Salem — and throughout Oregon — that it should be a top civic priority. A related challenge is continuing to build the local economy by helping existing companies prosper, recruiting new employers to the Mill Creek Corporate Center and developing family-wage jobs in lower-income areas of Salem.

The city dares not shrink from addressing those challenges. But neither should people overlook the progress of the past year:

Several major industries have invested in new equipment, new buildings and additional employees; and new businesses have opened downtown.

Mid-Valley firms received 93 percent of the $66 million in city contracts awarded for engineering and construction. Road and sidewalk improvements were completed throughout Salem, and more are on the way.

Several city parks have been upgraded. Directional signs have been installed at Minto-Brown Island Park, reducing the likelihood that visitors will get lost. The groundbreaking is today [Thursday] for the long-awaited pedestrian bridge to connect Minto-Brown and Riverfront parks.

Although Salem is known for such popular, high-profile events as the World Beat Festival and the Salem Art Fair and Festival, more neighborhood events are taking place, as well.

Salem's bond rating has been upgraded to AA, which reflects the city's solid fiscal management.

Those are a few of the developments cited by Peterson. But they illustrate what many residents already knew and what the mayor closed her remarks with: Time and again, the community comes together to make good things happen.